High def now looks like video?

Question

Anyone know why DVDs on my roomate's high def TV now look like cheap video? Some setting she is not aware of? She says she changed something, but can't figure out what- everything looked fine when she first got it.

Answer 1

if she has it running through composite(yellow,white,red) it should be fine, but if its not check the tvs display setting, maybe the setting is  too high for the dvd player, mabye its 1080p instead of normal dvd format 480i, hope that helps

Answer 2

Please list the models of both the DVD Player AND the TV, and what kind of cable is connecting the DVD player to the TV.

Answer 3

There is a setting on the DVD player to tell it what output setting it should use. Generally you should use the highest setting even if her hi-def TV is lower. In my system I have a 720p TV but it looks better when I have my HD-A3 set to 1080i. Why I don't know because theoretically it should look best set to 720p. I'd try them all and see which one looks the best.

In order from best to worst the hookups are HDMI, component, S-video, and composite. HDMI is easiest because it carries both audio and video on one cable (though the cable contains 15 wires in it). Next is component with 3 RCA jacks, red, green, and blue. S-video is one cable that has 4 wires in it. And composite is just one cable.

HDMI can do 1080p and up to 7.1 sound. Component can also do 1080p but carries no sound so you'll need a digital cable (either coax or fiber optic) for the sound. S-video can only do 440p and it's an old standard so I wouldn't recommend it. It also does not carry sound so you'll need the same digital cables for sound as component. Composite carries the video on one (usually yellow) cable and supports only 440i and no sound so you'd need a digital cable for the sound.

If she managed to set her DVD player to 440 output that would cause the symptoms you describe.